This study provides data on norming and performance standards on the Stanford Achievement Test, 9th Edition, for both hearing and deaf students. It graphically analyzes these data in the context of interpreting individual test scores, examining achievement of groups of students, and specifically, interpreting test scores of high achieving deaf and…

Examined the incidence of differential item functioning (DIF) on 3 subtests of the Iowa Tests of Basic Skills using test scores for 2,867 Alaskan students, characterized as "Native" or White at fourth and sixth grades or sixth and eighth grades. Effect size differences favoring whites were larger when students of equal English…

This study evaluated 150 elementary students previously referred to school study teams for possible learning disability (LD) as defined by a discrepancy between IQ and performance on a standardized achievement test. Comparison with actual school-based decisions found fewer than half of students certified as LD by local schools evidenced the…

Comments on the 1998 Civics Assessment of the National Assessment of Educational Progress. The broad coverage of the assessment answers many questions about students' knowledge of politics and government and the teacher and classroom context for learning about civics. (SLD)

Examines the validity of large-scale educational assessment, suggesting that construct validity is insufficient for assuming an achievement measure's internal validity and that the uses of assessment results affect external validity. Discusses the role of learning theory in large-scale assessment, purposes of large-scale assessment, item types and…

Approximately 1,700 English language learners (ELLs) and former ELL students, in Grades 4 and 10, were tested using both an English-language (Stanford Achievement Test, 9th ed.) and a Spanish-language (Aprenda, 2nd ed.) achievement test. Their performances on the two tests were contrasted. The results showed that ELL students, for the most part,…

This article contains summaries of reports from international research correspondents (IRCs) as part of the continued effort to make the International Reports on Literacy Research, a regular feature of "Reading Research Quarterly," more representative of the field of literacy education. With an eye toward encouraging the IRCs to report…

Renewed interest in the education of young adolescents has given credence to the "elemiddle" school approach to teaching and learning, which was first documented 15 years ago when David Hough coined the term. Yet much bias, misunderstanding and misinterpretation accompanies the most recent phenomenon compelling schools nationwide to…

Self-concept ratings of children with mathematics disabilities (MD), average mathematics achievement (AA), and high mathematics achievement (HA) who attended regular classes in grades 4 through 6 were compared. Twenty-four children in each group, who were selected from an original pool of 811 children, and who were matched one-to-one by grade,…

High school exams that are based on state standards are changing what and how students learn, whether or not they have high stakes attached to them, a report on two school districts suggests. Because of such tests in Virginia and Maryland, teachers are focused on ensuring that students are prepared to take and pass the exams, according to case…

One of the four guiding principles of the National Science Education Standards is simply "science for all students" (NRC 1996). This principle underscores the belief that all students, regardless of race, gender, or disability, should have the opportunity to learn and understand the essential science content described in the Standards. Because of…

A data from 1996,1998 and 1999 Minnesota comprehensive statewide testing on eight graders is used to analyze whether African American students perform worse than the white students who attend the poverty schools. The analyses conclude that African American-White test score gap is attributed more to the racial discriminations and racial treatments…

The purpose of this article is to promote an increased awareness of the processes for setting cut-scores for complex performance assessments by (a) describing the Analytic Judgment Method (AJM) for setting cut-scores, and (b) critically evaluating the technical adequacy and practicability of the AJM by focusing on one investigation where the AJM…

The collection of verbal reports is one way in which cognitive and developmental psychologists gather data to formulate and corroborate models of problem solving. The current use of verbal reports to design and validate educational assessments reflects the growing trend to fuse cognitive psychological research and educational measurement. However,…

The research and analysis completed for this study focuses on one variable and its relationship to student achievement: school wide student attendance. It is a variable that is often overlooked or taken for granted as an interesting but meaningless statistic, however, the positive impact of good school attendance on academic achievement may be…